Jugnu will now be launched in 2011

India: Jugnu, the nano satellite, developed by Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur (IIT-K) is expected to be launched in the polar orbit from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in the first six months of 2011.

Though it was expected that it would be launched in October 2010, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has allotted a slot in the first half of 2011 to IIT-K for the launch.

The IIT-K Director, Sanjay Govind Dhande, said that the final model of the satellite is being given final touches. A team of 12 professors and 45 students have been working on the project since December 2007.

Weighing 3.5 kgs, Jugnu will be launched in the Polar orbit, 700 km above the ground level. The nano satellite, which has a life span of a year, will encircle earth 14 to 15 times each day and transmit images of weather, soil and water bodies to the IIT-K base station.

Every day, the images will be transmitted thrice, and each transmission period will be between 3-5 minutes.

Professor Nalinaksh S Vyas, who is heading the project at IIT-K said that the engineering model has already been handed over to ISRO. The final model, called the Flight Model, is being given final touches and will be handed over to ISRO about 40 days before the launch.

The IIT-K, Vyas said, has also developed the ejection mechanism for Jugnu. “A bigger satellite will carry Jugnu in the Polar Orbit,” he said. “Once it reaches the orbit, the ejection mechanism will separate it from the bigger satellite.”